A convicted Wai'anae cockfighter was arrested yesterday after airport security officers found a .25-caliber handgun and ammunition clip at the bottom of his carryon bag as he tried to take a Honolulu-to-Lihu'e flight.

Operations at the interisland terminal were not disrupted, a state official said.

Peter A. Ganaban, 36, was arrested on suspicion of felony possession of ammunition, unlawful place to keep a firearm, and misdemeanor charges of not having a permit and carrying an unregistered firearm.

Transportation Security Administration officers noticed the Titan .25-caliber handgun and a full ammunition clip while Ganaban's bag passed through an X-ray screening machine at a security checkpoint, TSA spokesman Nico Melendez said.

State deputy sheriffs, who are responsible for policing the airport, were alerted and arrested Ganaban.

"He indicated (to sheriffs) that he did not know the gun was there," said Louise Kim McCoy, spokeswoman for the state Department of Public Safety.

Ganaban was booked at a receiving desk at Halawa Correctional Facility and released pending investigation.

The gun was not registered and Ganaban did not have a permit for it, said Scott Ishikawa, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.

Ganaban has four prior misdemeanor criminal convictions, including three for cruelty to animals, after he was arrested at cockfights in 2002, 2003 and 2006.

On Feb. 10, 2006, Ganaban was fined $1,000 after he was arrested for a third cruelty-to-animals charge.

He was previously convicted of misdemeanor cruelty to animals in August 2002 and paid a $75 fine, and was convicted again and fined $150 in 2003.

On July 28, 2002, Ganaban was arrested along with two others after more than 20 police officers raided a cockfight attended by more than 500 people at the back of Ma'ili'ili Road. Ganaban was arrested after officers caught him attaching a gaff to a rooster.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.